Retrospective Assessment of Respirable Quartz Exposure for a Silicosis Study of the Industrial Sand Industry.

Background: In 2016, the OSHA PEL for crystalline silica was reduced, renewing interest in evaluating risk of silicosis from occupational exposures. The industrial sand industry, which deals with high-purity quartz sands, is the setting for a current epidemiologic investigation of silicosis risk and progression. In support of that investigation, respirable quartz (RQ) exposures were retrospectively estimated for 67 workers with silicosis and 167 matched control workers from 21 industrial sand plants, in which some started work as early as 1929.

A comparison of two laboratories for the measurement of wood dust using button sampler and diffuse reflection infrared Fourier-transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS).

The current measurement method for occupational exposure to wood dust is by gravimetric analysis and is thus non-specific. In this work, diffuse reflection infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) for the analysis of only the wood component of dust was further evaluated by analysis of the same samples between two laboratories. Field samples were collected from six wood product factories using 25-mm glass fiber filters with the Button aerosol sampler.

Exposures to thoracic particulate matter, endotoxin, and glucan during post-Hurricane Katrina restoration work, New Orleans 2005-2012.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the city of New Orleans in August 2005, restoration workers were at risk for respiratory illness from exposure to airborne particles and microbial agents. In support of an epidemiologic investigation of this risk, an exposure assessment for restoration work activities (demolition, trash & debris management, landscape restoration, sewer/waterline repair, and mold remediation) was performed from 2005 to 2012. For 2005 and 2006, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) data (n = 730) for personal and area monitoring of total and respirable dust exposures of restoration workers were accessed and analyzed.

Determination of airborne wood dust in Button samples by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS).

Emerging concerns regarding the toxicity of inhaled wood dust support the need for techniques to quantitate wood content of mixed industrial dusts. The diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) analysis technique was applied to the determination of wood content of 181 inhalable dust samples (geometric mean concentration: 0.895 mg/m(3); geometric standard deviation: 2.

On-filter determination of collected wood dust by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier-transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS).

A new analytical technique based on DRIFTS spectroscopy has been developed for the specific and sensitive determination of size-fractionated wood dust from 37 mm glass fiber filter samples collected with the Respicon sampler. A translational diffuse reflectance apparatus was modified to accept filter samples by incorporating a special filter holder in the sample stage and a clockwork motor to drive the translational stage during infrared scanning, thus providing an average analysis across the filter face. Filter samples were pre-treated with ethyl acetate to uniformly redeposit dust onto the filter and extract potential chemical interferences.